Chapter 11: Things are Not Always What They Seem

Tamarilla looked around as Bartholomew flew off with Serri. I will miss having Serri around. True her escaping caused the Elves and the Emperor's soldiers to hunt us, and made us go into a haunted forest that was really not haunted, which almost got us all drowned, well except for me because the captain said that I would never drown. Then we got captured by Rhonda's army, luckily we escaped and found Bartholomew. Just to think none of this would have happened except for Serri. Even though I really got to know Serri, I'm gonna miss her.

Without the all powerful half-elf wizard, Tammi did not feel very brave, so Lizzie led the way. It would be better to have Lizzie in the front when they ran into the 'Army of Change' soldiers anyway, because Elizabeth was a friend of their commander. With Lizzie up front Tammi was braver than ever, so she walked beside her and started a conversation. The ladies knew that Tamarilla would and could talk about anything. Lori jokingly called it 'Tammi's Geas'.

After she ignored the 'predicable sigh' from Lizzie, Tammi questioned her about Rhonda, The conversation went like a lot of Tammi's conversations, Tammi talked and Lizzie grunted and nodded 'yes' or 'no'. "So you knew Rhonda from before? Was it when you were a sell-sword? Was your sister with you? Is Rhonda one of your lovers? Did you save her from danger? Was she a companion on a quest? A rescue? In an army? Part of a relief effort? Surely not working on an evil plot?" Tammi's questions up to this point were easily answered by Lizzie with a 'yes', 'yes', 'no', 'no', 'no', 'no', 'no', 'no', 'no', and 'no'. But Tammi's next question left her silent for a moment and this is when Lori really started listening.

"So, how did you meet her anyway? C'mon you can tell me, I mean we're like sisters anyway." Tammi then looked uncomfortable and whispered, "Well, except for the sex part."

Elizabeth straightened her shoulders and said, "I met her in a small forest." Tammi nodded to her expecting more. "She was guarding the forest from erm ... trespassers." Tammi waved her hand in a circle, palm-up, obviously wanting Lizzie to continue. Lizzie spoke the rest very rapidly, "She kicked me out of the forest OK."

"OK Lizzie, so after that you became friends right. Right? Is that right Lizzie?" It was then that Lori took Tammi's place next to Lizzie and told Tammi that she and Lizzie had things to talk about privately. Tammi went back to talk with Danni, who cringed when she saw her coming. It was a good thing that Tammi was talking because she drowned out the angry words coming from Lori and Lizzie, mostly from Lori.

A little while later Lori called for a halt because she had something important to tell everyone. "It appears that we may not be welcomed with open arms by Rhonda. Because of that we will pretend that we are already part of the Army of Change. They don't have regular uniform and they are all women, so our chances are good." She then stared directly at Tammi. "You understand, we will pretend to be part of their army." Tammi nodded her head 'yes' vigorously. "Tammi just stay close to Lizzie, she can help if you need it." Tammi again nodded 'yes' vigorously and link her right arm into Lizzie's left. Lizzie groaned and Tammi smiled big like she had a new best friend for life.

Meanwhile, Gilraen Ancalimë was on her way to Rhonda's camp. She had already sent a message stating that Tamarilla had been spotted and had probably been eaten by a dragon.

The elf officer arrived at the main camp for the Army of Change and was immediately sent in to brief the General. She expected a dressing-down from the general, but some things could not be helped. The woman in the general's tent had a mask over her face. It looked fierce. The mask was ceramic with precious metals providing the support and precious gems decorating the mask. The mask was obviously made for a woman and was magical.

"I am told that you have something to report to me. Is it about the missing recruits? They are of no consequence. What else do you have to report?"

Gilraen was valiantly fighting the influence of the mask. It was stronger than she was led to believe by the men who had provided the protection for her against its influence. "I believe that the women found are of importance Ma'am. The Emperor's army was looking for them. Unfortunately, they fled from my protection into the territory of an adult dragon. They have probably perished."

The general pursed her lips while she thought of what she had been told. "It is too bad if they have perished. They may have been of use to me." She paused for a moment then spoke again, "Remain in the camp, if there is any sign that they survived, I want you to lead a search party."

The elf almost ran from the tent. The will of the mask is sooo strong! Once she was safely outside of the tent, she smiled. The general was playing right into my hands. If there is any chance that they are alive, I need to be there when they are found.

Tammi and Lizzie moved to the back, supposedly to guard from attack from the rear. Actually Lori, who was on point, had enough with Lizzie and her duplicity. Lizzie managed to keep Tammi from talking, mostly. She had stressed the need for quiet while they snuck into the sprawling army camp. Tammi was going to complain about the noise that Lizzie's armor was making, but she had a flash of brilliance and figured that an argument would make more noise, so she didn't complain and merely bit her lip. Of course after a few moments, she couldn't remember why she was biting her lip but thought that it must be important, so Tammi arrived at the camp with a wounded lip.

Lori's wilderness savvy, was still top-notch so the group snuck up to Rhonda's tent unseen and unheard. They had a quick whispered conference. All except for Tamarilla, she was still biting her lip. It was decided that they would report to Rhonda pretending that they wanted to join, but did not trust the Elvin officer. A flap was open on the tent and a scantily clad woman could be seen inside.

Lori entered the general's tent in front of the rest of the women. As soon as they entered the tent, Tammi felt a wave of energy that washed over her which did not affect her. Boy that felt weird, like a Charlie-horse in my brain! She noticed that her companions were standing still at attention. Tammi then got a good look at the mask the general wore. The mask was basically made of ceramics. What made it striking was the gold and silver that were used in the framework. The precious gems that decorated it really caught her eye. Tammi saw rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds. What a pretty mask, I would tell her that, but my mouth hurts.

The general sat back in her chair and told Lori to report. Tammi was amazed as she heard what Lori had to say, apparently the plan had changed. Lori said, "Commander, we escaped from your recruitment camp after the elf recognized who Tamarilla was. All of us have had problems with the elves, so we were very suspicious. After we escaped Tamarilla called her friend the dragon and we rested there overnight. One of our group, Serri, a half-elf, decided to stay with the dragon as a companion."

Rhonda looked very interested when the dragon was mentioned. "You said that Tamarilla had a dragon that was a friend? Tell me, is this a female dragon?" Lori shook her head 'no'. "Too bad, an adult dragon would have been a major addition to our forces. Oh well, what cannot be, will not be. Tell me about yourself and your companions." Lori started to tell the general about all of them. She described Tammi as a 'simple village girl' that reacted strangely to magic. Half way though Lori's report, Gilraen Ancalimë entered the tent and stood at attention near Tamarilla.

Tammi let go of her lip and winced. Since Lori is telling all, there is no reason for me to keep my mouth shut anymore. I hope everyone appreciates all the hurt I go through for them. Tammi stood at attention like the others, but could not stop her eyes from roaming. She was lucky that Rhonda didn't notice it, if she had the game would be up. Gilraen did see it and she smiled to herself, she had been right.

When Lori finished telling the general everything that she thought the general needed to hear, she stopped talking and remained at attention. The general dismissed the group saying, "Good report. You are assigned to Lt. Ancalimë", she pointed to the elf officer, "She will assign you duties that will be best for the army. Welcome to the Army of Change."

The women, except for the general, left the tent. Outside the tent, the elf officer pointed at a large tent across the compound. "That is the Mess tent. Go get something to eat and meet back here." When Tamarilla turned to go with the group, the elf stopped her. "Stay with me Tammi, we have something to talk about." Tamarilla made a point of coming to a halt and doing an about face. She was fine until the extra weight on her chest didn't stop turning when she did and she fell over. Tammi was at a loss of what to do; she finally gave up all pretense of military bearing and climbed to her feet. Tammi hadn't noticed that her friends casually walked over to the Mess tent. Gone was the zombie like stance of the women.